Volodymir Budnikov is renowned in Ukraine as an abstract painter, but since Russia invaded his homeland, he has been producing realistic pictures of death and destruction. In his new canvases, Russian soldiers are represented as skeletons—because, he says, the invaders “don’t feel anything.” Budnikov’s wife Vlada Ralko, one of the most acclaimed Ukrainian artists, is creating eerie, oppressive images that depict the horrors of war in cryptic yet unmistakable ways. One of her drawings shows a two-headed skeletal bird reminiscent of the eagle on Russia’s coat of arms, defecating bombs that cause blood-red explosions on a cratered ground.

---

Persons: Budnikov, ”, Vlada Ralko Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Ukrainian